This invention generally relates to computer systems, and more particularly to computer executed techniques for viewing information.
Computer systems may be used in a variety of applications and environments. For example, in commercial applications of computer systems, a computer may assist a user in making a decision or choice based on information that is viewed using the computer. A computer storing information may be used to display information to a user. Subsequently, the user may make a decision or selection in light of the information presented. One of the problems in applications such as these is how to present the information to a user in order to enable efficient and effective scanning through a large amount of material.
Information on computer systems may be presented using different existing techniques. One technique includes a user selection being made by sequentially searching through each alternative. Examples include selection of a television station broadcasting a particular television show by flipping to each channel, or selection of a website based on webpage contents by visiting each website. No additional information other than the content of each alternative is available to make a selection. Only by viewing, for example, each item is the user able to extract any information about a particular website""s information, or television program. This has a drawback of a potentially long selection process since a user generally has no additional information available in making a selection other than by xe2x80x9cvisitingxe2x80x9d each alternative.
An improvement to this technique is to provide summaries or abstractions for information objects so that they may be presented to the user more efficiently. Summaries in text form may be employed, allowing users to generally scan through lists more quickly than may be possible by viewing each item in its entirety. A further extension is to categorize the information objects and create hierarchical organizations of the material. Presenting text choices in a linear or hierarchical listing on a computer entails a spatial layout on a screen. If the listing exceeds the size of the display area, users generally interact by either flipping xe2x80x9cpagesxe2x80x9d or else by scrolling with standard computer windowing techniques. While these techniques may make the selection task more efficient, they still have drawbacks. One is that page flipping and/or scrolling requires interaction and cognitive resources and may be slow in certain networked environments. If users have to return to earlier parts of the sequence, they may lose context. Additionally, relying solely on text listings for presenting abstractions of information objects does not make use of imagery and other media. For example, psychological literature generally states that humans are capable of carrying out certain cognitive tasks by viewing images for just milliseconds.
Slide shows represent another technique that may be used to scan through information. With a slide show, images and text are generally presented one screen at a time with backward and forward controls. Some auto-play features of a slide show may also offer control over the temporal speed of the presentation. For example, some software, such as Powerpoint(trademark), may offer the user the option of preselecting a time to control the presentation speed, such as the time display for each slide. Slide shows may take advantage of human cognitive abilities to process imagery. However, there are two main drawbacks with using slide shows for scanning through a set of information objects. First, a slide show is a linear sequence in which only a single slide is shown at a time. There may be applications or forms of information in which it may be valuable to add some visual structure to reflect, say, a hierarchical organization of the material. Second, users are not able to adjust the speed of the information display dynamically. For selection and recognition tasks, it may be valuable for users be able to proceed through a sequence of images at very high rates but then be able to stop instantaneously and/or reverse the sequence.
Collages of images have also been used as a way of presenting information. However, user controls for speed and direction of information presented are not provided.
Thus, there is required a technique for viewing and selecting information by incorporating imagery and other media, as well as text, that uses a hierarchical organization, and deploys controls for speed and direction of information presented.